The Caged Fighter
by Scandalist
Summary: Villagers of Konoha always believed Naruto to be the reincarnation of The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, but what if their fears came true one fateful night when Kurama breaks through the seal and takes over Naruto's body? Hiding his true identity, Kurama begins his quest to free his brothers and sisters. Kurama-centered fic.


Mizuki's death was a mystery.

Neither Iruka nor ANBU, or even the Third Hokage could tell for sure how he ended up well, dead. And although there were some theories that were fueled by old prejudices, Iruka – and Lord Sandaime – believed them to be groundless and based solely on people's fears.

When Iruka found Naruto and, well, the remains of Mizuki, he, at first, didn't realize that the bloody mess he was looking at was once his friend. When the realization hit him, he almost threw up from disgust and shock of witnessing such a gruesome scene: Mizuki's body looked like it was ravaged by a beast – a very violent beast: every limb was bent and broken, his face was battered beyond recognition, and his usually white locks of hair were red and brown from dried blood. Actually, forget about a beast: no animal could do something like that. And neither could a 12-year-old hoodlum that was found next to Mizuki, unconscious.

Of course, this event immediately sparkled rumors that it was "the demon brat" who killed Academy Instructor, but Iruka, who was Naruto's sensei for 6 long years, knew the boys abilities and highly doubted that a student who failed an exam for genin could do something like that. Naruto was receiving a lot of hate from villagers because of the fact that he was a vessel for The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, so it wasn't surprising that at he was claimed to be a killer at the first chance. However, even though constant isolation on one hand and hatred on the other made Naruto sociopathic and always gloomy, he would not kill a person. That was something that Demon Fox would do, but not the boy.

Not that he would even be able to pull off something like that: ever since Naruto applied to the Academy, he was unable to use ninjutsu. Although Iruka did not know why, it seemed like the boy had extreme problems molding chakra, so the only ninjutsu that he had ever showed to learn was Henge no Jutsu. Iruka had no doubts that at this level of progress, unless something changed, Naruto would never master any other chakra-based techniques.

On the other hand, his taijutsu was very good, to the point where the only one who could spar with him more-or-less on par was Sasuke Uchiha, the best student in the class, and even he often had had difficulties keeping up to Naruto's speed and strength: sometimes, when Naruto got worked up, he could probably surpass even an average chunin, which was truly astonishing and horrifying at the same time, considering the fact that the boy wasn't even a genin yet. And he wouldn't be for at least a year, since his inability to create a simplest clone didn't let him pass the exam. Sometimes Iruka wondered if it was even fair to judge students only on something like that – especially when Naruto was doing exceedingly well in everything else – but graduating a student who didn't know any ninjutsu was the same as sentencing them to death. Of course, there were some exceptions, like Rock Lee, who was a student of Maito Gai, the most powerful taijutsu in the village, but it took a direct involvement of his sensei to make him pass with taijutsu skills only. Still, there was some hope for Naruto to become a full member of shinobi society, unless he was charged with killing Mizuki and stealing a Scroll of Seals.

That was another mystery that Naruto was involved in: where did he hide the Legendary Scroll of Seals that had belonged to The Second Hokage and that the boy had stolen, and how did he know about it in the first place? Of course, taking into account all other circumstances, Iruka had his suspicions, but he had to confirm them first before voicing them to Hokage.

Initially, Konoha higher-ups and Iruka's fellow chunins wanted to take Naruto to the Interrogation Division, where they would crack his mind (and possibly skull) open and pull all the information out of him, but Iruka managed to convince Hokage that if he just talked to the boy then it wouldn't be necessary: after all, Naruto was only twelve years old, and his insubordination and unwillingness to cooperate were understandable to Iruka: he wasn't the most loved person in the village, after all, and inhabitants of Konoha were antagonizing him from the day he was born, so Naruto just thought that it was only fair to pay back with the same coin.

That was the best way to describe Naruto's relations with other people: bound by the rules that forbade them to ever mention Nine-Tails Incident, the villagers instead chose to ignore the boy and deny the very fact that the boy existed, so Naruto acted the same way towards them, doing what he wanted and paying no attention to their complaints and hatred. But if someone were to look the boy in the eye, they would see hatred so powerful and so beastly, that it couldn't be just the hatred of some resentful child: that fact alone made the villagers afraid of the boy and made them write countless requests to put the boy down like an animal, so that the villagers weren't afraid for their children.

There were some really serious incidents though: when Kiba made fun of Naruto for not being able to use Substitution Technique, Naruto beat him up so badly that the boy couldn't even see clearly for a week. Girls stopped teasing him after the most serious promise to kill them that they would ever hear in their lives: girls parents weren't particularly happy about that fact. And after Sasuke stated that someone like Naruto would never match the power of Uchiha, the boy attacked him with such an intent to kill that it actually made Sasuke unlock his Sharingan – which made the boy happy later on, when he got over the shock of almost being killed. From that day on, Sasuke was the only one who voluntarily sparred with Naruto, which was his best way of acknowledging people around him.

All in all, it wasn't all that surprising that Naruto didn't have any friends, so the only people in all Konoha who tolerated him were Iruka, Hokage-sama, and the young heir of Hyuuga clan, Hinata – the only girl that was usually just as silent as Naruto, though for a different reason. Iruka could also say that Naruto sometimes at least pretended to listen to him, and that was already a good thing.

So here he was, sitting in front of the blond, grumpy boy, who was doing his best to ignore the fact that his sensei was sitting in front of him, and trying to put all the pieces together. He was ready that Naruto wouldn't cooperate, especially since it was Iruka that hadn't let the boy pass the exam on the previous day, but, on the other hand, Naruto didn't seem to think highly of the exam in the first place: in fact, he barely tolerated the educational system of Konoha, as if he thought that he knew better. But still, Iruka had to try.

"So" – he slowly began – "tell me, Naruto, how did you appear in that forest and what were you doing with Mizuki?"

Naruto didn't bother to reply, just rolling his eyes, as if his interrogation was a minor nuisance. Iruka felt the irritation inside of him growing, so he tried to persuade the boy to talk, doing so in a very stressful voice: "Naruto, you have to understand that I am your only friend in this situation. If you do not tell me now, you will be sent to the Interrogation Division, and trust me, they are those kind of people that you would want to avoid for the rest of your life. So tell me, what were you doing in the forest and where is the Scroll of Seals?"

This threat seemed to have the effect on the boy, for he looked Iruka in the eye and, after a small pause, started talking: "I did not go to the forest on my own accord. I was just following the instructions of that white-haired instructor" – remembering names of people seemed to be too bothersome for Naruto. "He told me that I could graduate if I were to kidnap the Scroll and bring it to him, so I did just that".

Iruka was startled: there was no such way to graduate a student, so, if Naruto was telling the truth, then it meant… that Mizuki was a traitor and wanted Naruto to do all the dirty work? And after that, what was he going to do to Naruto? Surely, he wouldn't leave the only witness alive? Iruka suspected that Mizuki wasn't as kind as he seemed to be, but this was the whole new level of hypocrisy. But Naruto's explanation didn't cover all the questions that Iruka had.

"But what happened to him after you met? And where is the Scroll of Seals now?"

Naruto snorted, as if he was talking to a way too curious child: "How would I know? I was unconscious when you found me, remember?"

"Can you still try to remember, Naruto?"

The boys gaze drifted off, as if he was remembering something. And he, indeed, remembered that night…

* * *

When Mizuki appeared at the agreed destination, he already had the evil intent in his eyes. The boy indeed was stupid enough to believe his fairy tale about a secret way to graduate: he could act all tough, but he was still desperate to become a shinobi. And, after he would give Mizuki the Scroll, his life would end. With all the hatred that the village had for the boy no one would even bother to find this brat's killer, and, of course, no one would suspect him, Mizuki.

"Now, hand over the Scroll, Naruto" – he said gently, inwardly almost cringing from this put up show: he was craving for the moment when he would have the Scroll so that he could kill the brat. But it didn't go as he planned: the boy suddenly let out a dark chuckle and wondered aloud: "why would I do that?"

"Come on, Naruto, don't you want to graduate?" – Mizuki pleaded. _"Just give up the damn scroll already!"_

"I have already I want here" – the boy replied, still smirking and patting the Scroll. "Don't you want it too, Mizuki-kun?"

After that, Mizuki couldn't control himself anymore. With a roar of rage, he suddenly kicked the boy in the face, and Naruto, not ready for an attack, flew back a few meters and fell to ground, face down.

You fucking orphan!" – he shouted. "You dare to trash-talk me? I can destroy you with a single move! Have you ever wondered why people hate you? That's because 12 years ago, when Nine-Tails attacked Konoha, it was sealed inside you! That right, brat, you are the Demon Fox that destroyed the village and killed all those people!"

Mizuki felt a little better after that: he just had to let that out of his system. Surely, the boy was devastated now and would plead him to end his pitiful existence. However, much to his surprise, Naruto started laughing again, at first silently, but then louder and louder.

"**Demon Fox… so that's how they call me. Well, at least they got one thing right" - **the boy say, standing up with his back still turned to Mizuki.

Mizuki froze in shock: that deep, roaring voice couldn't belong to the boy. But that didn't scare him even remotely as much as red, demonic chakra that was flowing out of the boy's body. And, when he turned around, Mizuki's terrified mind registered one fact: red eyes.

The boy had red, slitted eyes. The eyes of the demon, the eyes that for centuries have seen countless lives end under their hateful gaze.

"**By the way, thank you for telling me the location of this scroll. You can be sure, I'll put it to a good use" –** Naruto - "_was that really Naruto?"_ - growled in a teasing voice, patting the scroll again.

"Red chakra" – Mizuki stuttered, still shocked by what he was seeing. "You can use _his _chakra".

Naruto rolled his eyes: **"Idiot. Of course I can! They don't call me the Nine-tailed Demon Fox for nothing"**

Realization finally hit Mizuki, but that was to huge for him to comprehend, and he screamed in a fit of hysteria: "It can't be… You… They… They were always right! You are the demon! A destroyer of everything! IT CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!"

Naruto grinned with a malevolent grin, and Mizuki could clearly see in those red eyes what fate awaited him when the boy prepared to charge at him: **"Believe it".**

* * *

"…Naruto? Can you hear me?"

Naruto – or rather Kurama – snapped out of his memories and looked at his "sensei": the idiot still tried to get an answer out of him, not even suspecting how the things really were. Well, there was no point in disappointing the man with truth.

Seeing that Naruto wasn't going to say anything, Iruka with a wave dismissed Naruto and stared in the window.

"By the way" – he heard Naruto say as the boy was leaving the room – "there was one thing that Mizuki told me".

"And what was that?" – Iruka wondered.

"He told me that…" – Naruto stopped for a moment – "…I am the Demon Fox".

A\N

Done!

This is the first chapter and I really don't know where the to lead the plot, and I'm currently working on another fanfic – "Heroes of the Sharingan", that depicts Obito's adventures if he returned to Konoha together with Rin and Kakashi. Check it out!

But regardless, I'd like to hear your opinion on this short oneshot/pilot. And don't mind my mistakes – I'm not a native speaker.

Review, follow and favorite, and don't forget to check my other story!

See ya!


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